Novel deck of playing cards and methods for use

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a novel deck of playing cards and to various games that can be played therewith. In some embodiments, the cards of the deck are distinguishable from each other based on three different dimensions, rank, suit, and family. Some embodiments include additional cards such as jokers or wildcards. Various new games and adaptations of existing games are also disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 60/698,571, filed on Jul. 12, 2005, which is hereby expresslyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a novel deck of playing cards and tovarious games that can be played therewith. In some embodiments, thecards of the deck are distinguishable from each other based on threedifferent dimensions, rank, suit, and family. Some embodiments includeadditional cards such as jokers or wildcards. Various new games andadaptations of existing games are also disclosed.

2. Description of the Related Art

The invention of the deck of playing cards is one of the most importantadvances in the history of games. A standard deck of playing cards islightweight, portable, inexpensive, and can serve as the basis for avast number of games which are suitable for one or many players. Aconventional deck of playing cards features fifty-two cards which carryboth rank and suit designations. Each card is distinguishable from allother cards in the deck because it has a unique combination of rank andsuit. For example, although a typical deck contains four kings andthirteen diamonds, there is only one king of diamonds. The rules of mostcard games are built on the rank and suit relationships that the cardshave to one another.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention is a card deck, containing a plurality offamilies, wherein each of the families contains: a two-dimensional arrayof cards, wherein the first dimension contains thirteen ranks and thesecond dimension contains four suits.

Another aspect of the invention is a method of playing poker including:providing at least one deck of cards containing a plurality of families,wherein each family contains a two-dimensional array of cards, whereinthe first dimension contains ranks and the second dimension containssuits; dealing a plurality of cards from the deck of cards to aplurality of players so that each player has a poker hand; and comparingthe poker hands of at least two players and determining a hierarchybased at least in part on the families represented by the cardscontained in the poker hands of the at least two players.

Another aspect of the invention is a method of playing 21 including:providing at least one deck of cards containing a plurality of families,wherein each family includes a two-dimensional array of cards, whereinthe first dimension contains ranks and the second dimension containssuits; dealing a plurality of cards to a player hand; dealing aplurality of cards to a dealer hand; and comparing the cards of theplayer hand in each family to the cards of the dealer hand in thecorresponding family.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates various cards in a “Lone Star deck” and shows variousLone Star poker hand combinations.

FIG. 2 illustrates the preparation and play of Lone Star 21.

FIG. 3 further illustrates the preparation and play of Lone Star 21.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A conventional deck of playing cards features four suits and thirteenranks. The conventional ranks are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack,queen, king, and ace, and the conventional suits are club, diamond,heart, and spade. The rank and suit of each card are generallydesignated by indicia which appear on the card. For example, a “3” and a“

” on the same card indicate that the card is the three of clubs. Someembodiments of the present invention use the same ranks and suits as aconventional deck of cards, though it will be appreciated thatalternative ranks and suits (as well as alternative numbers of ranks andsuits) can also be used to create card decks. In some embodiments of thepresent invention, four suits are used and are titled star, planet,crescent, and quasar, and are depicted in FIG. 1.

Some embodiments of the present invention build upon the two dimensionalarray of rank and suit, and add a third dimension which is independentfrom the first two. In the present disclosure, the third dimension isreferred to as “family,” so that a card in the deck can be assigned arank, a suit, and a family. The family to which a card belongs can beidentified by an indicia on the card. In some embodiments, the indiciais a color, such as the color of the card's background or field, thoughthe indicia can also be a letter, number, typographical character,image, icon, or other recognizable feature. In some embodiments, twofamilies are used, black and white, such that fifty two cards (an arrayof thirteen ranks and four suits) exist in each family, for a total of104 cards. In this way, there are two cards corresponding to each uniquecombination of rank and suit—there are two kings of planets, one blackand one white. FIG. 1 shows several cards from such a deck. Rank indicia2, suit indicia 4, and family indicia 6 appear on each card. In FIG. 1,the two family indicia are the colors black and white, such that one ofthose colors appears in the field of each card.

In some other embodiments, there are three families, white, black, andred, for a total of 156 cards. FIG. 2 shows several cards from such adeck. In FIG. 2, the three family indicia are the colors red 10, white12, and black 14, such that one of those colors appears in the field ofeach card.

Additional families can also be used, and be designated by uniquecolors, such as blue, green, yellow, orange, purple, etc. Depending onthe requirements of the game to be played, and the preferences of thoseplaying, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or tenfamilies, or more, can be used.

In some embodiments, a card deck of the present invention contains twoor more families, and each family contains the same array of suits andranks (so that each rank and suit combination exists in every family).In some other embodiments, a card deck contains two or more families,but some rank and suit combinations do not exist in every family. Manyalternative deck arrangements can be accomplished by making a completedeck available commercially, and providing instructions to users toremove one or more particular cards depending on the game and number ofplayers. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that some games cancall for less than a complete deck to accommodate varying rules andvarying numbers of players.

In some embodiments, a multiple family card deck can be sold as a singlecommercial unit. In some other embodiments, a plurality of cards in asingle family can be sold as a “family deck,” and can be combined withother family decks to form a complete, multiple family deck thatcontains the desired number and identity of families.

In some embodiments, one or more additional cards, such as a joker, canbe added to the deck. Such additional cards can be members of a singlefamily, members of multiple families, or carry no family indicia at all.Such additional cards can serve as wildcards, limited wildcards (such asa bug in poker), or for any other function to enhance the play of thegame.

The addition of the third “family” dimension creates new relationshipsbetween cards and can serve as the basis for new games, some of whichare based on existing games. For example, two cards of the same rank areidentified as “a pair” in a conventional game of poker. However, whenusing a deck containing two or more families, a pair of cards that arealso members of the same suit, or the same family, can be considered aparticularly unique pair, and so be granted special status in new gamederived from conventional poker. Similar relationships can be developedfor other hands in poker, and for other games. For example, new types ofmelds in rummy and cribbage are possible with the added dimension offamily. New versions of trick-based games such as bridge, whist, hearts,and spades can take advantage of the family dimension to develop newhierarchies, new trump cards, and obligations that a player follow suit,follow family, or both. The rules for games of solitaire and patiencecan also recognize different families to dictate how cards can bearranged when playing those games.

Rules for playing some specific new games which use a deck of cardshaving ranks, suits, and families are disclosed below. Those of skill inthe art will recognize that such rules can be adapted according toindividual preferences or other constraints such as the number ofplayers, the desired duration or complexity of play, or the level ofwagering, where applicable. As used herein, a “Lone Star deck” is deckof playing cards in which families are depicted as colors (black, white,red, etc.) and the four suits are star, planet, crescent, and quasar.The rules of the particular game to be played and the preferences of theplayers will generally determine the number families (colors, in thiscase) that are required. Many of the games disclosed herein utilize twoor three families, with the color preferences being black and white, orblack, white, and red respectively.

EXAMPLE 1 Lone Star Poker

“Poker” is general term which can refer to a variety of games in whichplayers place wagers on the cards in their hands in hopes of ultimatelywinning the pot by either getting all the other players to fold, or byhaving the best poker hand of the players remaining. Games of poker canfeature a designated dealer (who distributes cards as the rulesdictate), or one of the players may act as a dealer. Traditional pokerhands (high card, one pair, two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush,etc.) are ordered based on the probabilities of different combinationswith respect to the rank and suit of the cards in the hand. When thethird dimension of family is added (as depicted in a Lone Star deck bycolor), new types of poker hands, as well as new criteria fortraditional poker hands are possible. FIG. 1 shows several examples ofsuch hands when using a Lone Star deck having two families, black andwhite. In particular, the three card majority rule is illustrated by theexamples which are identified as either “Valid Lonestar Hands” or “NotValid Lonestar Hands.” Examples of specific games follow which utilizethis Lone Star Combination style of play.

Games of poker can be played either with or without community cards. Ingames without community cards, such as stud and draw games, all thecards a player may use are unique to the player. In these games, eachplayer can be dealt one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,nine, or more cards. Games in which each player receives five or sevencards are the most common. In other poker games, the deal can includedesignating certain cards as community cards, which can thus be used bymore than one player. Community card games include Texas hold 'em andOmaha. In community card games, one, two, three, four, five, or morecards are dealt to each player, and one, two, three, four, five, six,seven, or more community cards are dealt. In Texas hold 'em, each playerreceives two cards, and five cards are dealt as community cards. InOmaha, each player receives four cards and five cards are dealt ascommunity cards.

EXAMPLE 2 Lone Star Draw Poker

2-10 players. Use one black and one white deck (104 cards). Use chips tokeep score.

OBJECTIVE: Make best five card poker hand using Lone Star Combinationstyle of play.

Shuffle both decks together with Lone Star Shuffler and place combineddeck in Lone Star Dealer Shoe.

Distribute equal amount of Lone Star Poker Chips to each player at start(twenty chips is typical.)

Use Lone Star Dealer Button to locate the bettor. At start of game thebettor is the first player left of the dealer.

Deal six cards to each player, face down.

First player to act is the bettor.

Players may act in one of three ways:

1. Call ante. (The ante amount is usually one chip but you may setdifferent betting limits depending on your game.) Even the initialbettor must ante if he does not choose to raise the ante. By anteing aplayer is saying that he/she wants to draw from the dealer shoe.Consider the ante the price of drawing cards. A player may draw anyamount up to six cards and discard the same amount so that he/she alwayshas six cards in his/her hand. After drawing cards the player passes theturn to the next player in a clockwise rotation.

2. Raise. A player may raise the ante at any time, including the initialbettor (or re-raise the raise) to twice the ante (raise) amount. If aplayer raises, he/she is stating that they have a good enough hand towin the pot and that player becomes the bettor. Any players to act aftera raise must call the raise and eventually show their hand, raise theraise to claim they have the best hand and become the new bettor, orfold their hand and let others fight for the prize. A raise indicatesthere will be a showdown. All participating players must show theircards when the action is raised by one player who is only called by allother players. If there are no callers to a players raise, the bettorwins without showing his cards.

3. Fold cards. As stated above, a player may choose to fold his/her handany time there is a raise. Players cannot fold to an ante bet.

After a showdown, pass the dealer shoe one position to the left andbegin another round. When all cards have been used, reshuffle andcontinue play.

GAME OPTION: A player who calls a raise may draw again to improvehis/her hand. This feature creates a unique dynamic to game play andadds a check-raising element to game play if the caller thinks theirwill be a re-raise after he has simply called.

EXAMPLE 3 Lone Star Hold 'Em Poker

2-20 players. Use one black and one white deck (104 cards). Use chips tokeep score.

OBJECTIVE: Make best five card hand using Lone Star Combination style ofplay.

Shuffle both decks together with Lone Star Shuffler and place combineddeck in Lone Star Dealer Shoe.

Distribute equal amount of Lone Star Poker Chips to each player atstart.

Use Lone Star Dealer Button to locate the bettor. At start of game thebettor is the first player left of the dealer.

Blind bets are placed after the dealer button (to the left.) There is asmall and big blind. The small blind is the first bet directly left ofthe dealer button and the big blind is twice the amount of the smallblind directly left of the small blind position. These bets are placedbefore any cards are dealt and are meant to cause action for game play.

Deal three “hole cards” to each player face down. Players must use twoof the three hole cards in combination with the community cards to makethe best five card poker hand.

There are four rounds of play in Lone Star Hold 'em: The Deal, the Flop,the Turn and the River. Each round players act in one of five ways: 1.)checking (pass option to next player without betting), 2.) betting(placing the minimum bet to show a strong hand), 3.) calling a bet, 4.)raising a bet (usually by twice the amount of the bet) or 5.) foldinghis/her cards.

The Deal: The first player to act after the Deal is the player directlyto the left of the big blind. He/she may either: call the big blind,raise the big blind to twice the amount or fold. Play continues aroundthe table until the last bet or raise has been called. If there are noraises after the deal and the turn passes to the big blind, the playerbehind the big blind has the option to raise.

The Flop: Burn a card face down and deal three cards face up in thecenter of the table. These cards are called community cards and they areused by all players to make a hand. Action after the turn starts withthe player to the left of the dealer button.

The Turn: Burn a card face down and deal one card face up next to theFlop. This is used by all players as a community card.

The River: Burn a card face down and deal one final card face up next tothe turn card. This card is the last community card to be dealt andafter all action has been completed on this round, all remaining playersmust show their cards to win the pot.

After a showdown, pass the dealer shoe one position to the left andbegin another round. When all cards have been used, reshuffle andcontinue play.

EXAMPLE 4 Lone Star Fizgin

2-8 players (Note: for games with 5 or more players larger dealer shoesmust be used.) Use chips to keep score.

Shuffle X amount of different colored Lone Star decks together and placein dealer shoe. X=number of players and number of colors.

OBJECTIVE: Score most points or eliminate opponents.

Players choose a colored deck to represent them in the game. When aplayer's color is next to be dealt from the shoe, that player must drawa card until an opponent's color is next to be dealt. In this fashion,there is no specific order to each player's turn. Players simply drawwhen their color shows up.

When a player has ten cards in his hand he/she must stop drawing fromthe shoe and play a hand or a trick. After playing a hand/trick face upon the table, that player may continue pulling cards from the shoe ifthere are still cards left to deal for that player.

Tricks are combinations of 3 to 5 cards in consecutive rank orconsecutive ranks of same suit or same rank. At no time can a trickexceed 5 cards in combination. When a trick has reached the 5 card limitit is a “capped” trick.

Hands are always combinations of 5 cards and must have at least a pairof Jacks to qualify for play. When scoring hands, players may only usethe cards that make the hand a qualifying hand. For instance a five cardhand with only a pair of Jacks is scored by counting the values of thetwo jacks=20 points.

If a player has ten cards in his/her hand and there is no qualifyinghand/trick to be played, that player must resign all ten cards byplacing them in the penalty discard pile. At the end of the game, thecards in the penalty discard pile will be added up according to cardvalues, and deducted from the player's final score.

RUMMY: At any time during a player's turn, that player may play off anytrick on the board. For instance if black has played three 3's and thered player has two red 3's she may play on the black 3's.

SCORING: Aces=11 points

-   -   Face=10 points    -   Numbers=face value    -   Playing all cards in a turn=10 points    -   Having more than 50 penalty points=elimination

When the shoe is empty players tally their scores to declare a winner.Games may be played to pre-specified point limits for longer games.

EXAMPLE 5 Lone Star 21

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the preparation and play of Lone Star 21, which isbased on traditional 21 (also called blackjack), but utilizes a LoneStar deck that contains three families of cards designated by color:black 14, white 12, and red 10. In this game, one or more playerscompete against a dealer. Play begins when each player places one ormore wagers, and the dealer deals cards. Cards are dealt to create a“player hand” for each player and a “dealer hand” for the dealer.Typically, three cards are dealt to each player hand (and to the dealerhand). Within each of these hands, however, the cards are dividedaccording to family. Thus, each player hand will contain a black familyhand, a white family hand, and a red family hand, as will the dealerhand. Accordingly, a player's black family hand competes only againstthe dealer's black family hand, and so on.

As in standard 21, the players must choose whether to hit (takeadditional cards) before the dealer does, and do so with incompleteknowledge about the cards held by the dealer. A player electing to hitdoes not know the family of the card he will receive. However, the cardbecomes part of the family hand of its corresponding family. Forexample, if the hit card is a white card, it becomes part of theplayer's white family hand. In this way, a player acts at his peril if,while trying to improve his black or red family hands, hits, andreceives a white card that causes his white family hand to exceed 21(“bust”). In some embodiments, a player who has busted any of his familyhands loses his ability to hit again. If a player hand or a dealer handcontains no card from a particular family, then the numerical total inthat family hand is zero. In this way, a zero for never receiving a cardin a particular family can be treated the same as a busted hand (itloses to any non-zero hand that has not busted).

As in standard 21, the decision to hit or stand on the dealer hand canbe dictated by a protocol that the dealer must follow. In Lone Star 21,a preferred protocol requires that the dealer stand when he has 17 orbetter in any family hand. Those of skill in the art will appreciatethat alternative protocols can be established to adjust the odds (forexample, some protocols may distinguish between soft totals and hardtotals).

After all the players and the dealer have played (hit as many times asthey wish, or busted), the player hands are compared to the dealer handsto determine whether the player or the dealer has won. In Lone Star 21,each of the three family hands of each player are compared to thecorresponding family hands of the dealer. Effectively, each player'sblack hand is compared to the dealer's black hand; each player's whitehand is compared to the dealer's white hand; and each player's red handis compared to the dealer's red hand. In each instance, the family handwith the higher total that has not busted is deemed the winner. Payoutscan be based either on whether the player has won overall (that he beatsthe dealer on more family hands than he loses) or on individual familyhands (such that a player winning three out of three family hands wouldwin more than a player betting the same amount, but winning only two outof three family hands). In some preferred embodiments, the wagers areplaced on family hands separately (one for each color), so that thepayouts are separate as well.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that games of 21 can be playedwith other numbers of families as well; for example, two families, fourfamilies, five families, or more can also be used in the alternative.

EXAMPLE 6 Lone Star Continuum

2 to 10 Players. Use one black and one white deck (104 cards). Points:players use chips to score, each player should start with same amount ofchips.

Shuffle both decks separately and deal 5 cards of each color to allparticipants so that each player has 10 cards (5 black and 5 white) andso that there are two separate decks from which a player can draw.

Select a betting limit. There will be a minimum bet and a maximum betset for the table limits.

Players act in turn starting to the left of the dealer. Each player isallowed two actions per turn.

Action #1: Discard a five card poker hand in front of you. This handmust be five black, five white or three of one color and two of theother. Combinations must follow the three card majority rule to beeligible for discard.

Action #2: Draw five new cards to replenish the cards you used in action# 1. Of course you must have five black and five white cards in yourhand after the draw.

Players place a bet on their hand when it is the highest hand on theboard. Each player to act after the bettor must beat the hand or discardan inferior hand and pay the bettor the amount of the bet. Players canbet anywhere between the preset betting limits.

If the bettor's hand is beaten, the bettor must pay the amount of hisbet to the player who beat him. The player who beats a high hand mayraise the amount of the bet up to 2× the amount of the previous bet orbet within the preset betting limits.

Use a dealer button to locate the bettor.

If no one beats the bettor's hand, all players must pay the bettor theamount of his bet. Then the bettor begins the next round of betting.

Reshuffle decks when any one of the decks is depleted.

Continue play. Player with most chips wins.

EXAMPLE 7 Lone Star World Wars

2-6 players. Use chips to score.

Lone Star World Wars is played using two decks (one black and one red.)Red cards are used for attacking your opponent and black cards are usedto defend against opponent attacks.

Double deck games are played without life point cards. Each playerstarts the game with equal life points (chips) from which allindefensible attacks and chip leech taps are deducted. A player iseliminated when all her life points=0.

The Ranks:

Red Aces—Tap +1, Dam +11

Red K, Q, J (Red Guards)—Dam +10, attack unguarded suit, eliminateguard.

Red Numbers (Red soldiers)—Dam +N (attack unguarded suit or eliminateshield.)

Black Aces—prevent opponent tap, destroy red ace, block leech +11

Black K, Q, J (Black Guards)—Def +10, guard suit +0, block leech +10

Black Number Cards—Def +N: shield suit +N, block leech +N

Red Cards Attack/Black Cards Defend:

Attack: Players may attack any player once per turn, each attack with adifferent suit.

Direct Attack on defender: Red “attack” cards are used for meleeencounters to attack your opponent. You may attack a player with a redcard by placing it in front of his play area. Red cards have values fortheir respective ranks (see above.) The amount of damage incurred by thedefender depends on the value of the red card being played.

Shielding a direct attack: If the defender has no black guard posted forthe attacking suit, the defending player may play a like suited blackcard to subtract damage from the attack. If an attacking red card rankshigher than the defending card, the balance of the damage is taken fromthe defending players chip stack and placed in the center pot and bothcards go to the discard pile. If the defending card ranks higher thanthe red card, the attack has failed and both cards are sent to thediscard pile.

Attacking guards: All ‘untapped’ direct attacks do damage to thedefending player or defending guard. A player may attack a guard withred suited cards of any rank. Lesser ranked red cards will doincremental damage to underlying guard or shield card so that blackguard cards and red attack cards will stack up and remain in play untilthe guard has been defeated by the incremental damage of all attackingred cards. Stacking red cards on a guard pile requires that eachincremental card is higher in rank than the previous red card on thestack. When the incremental damage exceeds the value of the black guard,any balance of damage is incurred by the defender and the blackguard iseliminated and all cards in the guard stack go to the discard pile.

Tapping/Leeching: Use red Aces to tap into an opponent's unguarded suit.A tap is successful only if the defending player has no guard in herplaying area for the suit being tapped. When a player taps an opponentshe gains +1 chip from the defending player's stack of chips and gainsaccess to the defender's chips for every like suited red card played onthe tap in following rounds of play. The ace stays in play unless thedefender plays a same suited black ace to destroy the tap on the sameturn as the tap.

Open Tap: Each incremental red card played on an open tap will allow theattacking player to leech/steal chips from the defending player and eachcard played must be higher in rank than the previously played red card.When the red King has been played on a tap, the tap is considered to beexhausted. Send all exhausted tap cards to the discard pile.

Defense: Players may play black cards against attacking cards of samesuit, to block taps and to guard suit.

Placing guards: Any black card can be played in front of any player toprotect the respective suit from being tapped. Players may play oneguard of each suit per turn.

Blocked taps: If the ace stays in play, on the defender's next turn (orany successive turn) she may play a black card of same suit to block thetap. If a tap is blocked, the opposing player must eliminate theblocking guard card with any red card of same suit that ranks higherthan or equal to the blocking guard. For instance, if a black ace ofstars blocks a tap only a red ace of stars will unblock the tap. If ablack 8 of stars blocks a tap, any 8 of stars or higher will unblock thetap. There is no incremental damage on a tap blocking guard. If theblock is eliminated, discard the blocking card and continue with thetap. An unblocked tap can be further tapped incrementally by same suitedred cards until the tap is exhausted.

Setup:

Shuffle all decks together and place in Lone Star Shoe.

Play:

Each player draws 7 cards from the shoe. Alternatively, each player maybe dealt one card in turn until each player has 7 cards. Players willhave a mixture of cards that make up their batteries of attack (red) anddefense (black.)

Player left of dealer goes first.

First Round: Players may only play black guard cards. One of each suitmay be played per round to guard the respective suit from direct attack.Attack cards cannot be used on the first round of play.

Successive Rounds: Players may play guard cards on unguarded suits.Player may attack in one different suit per player per round. Whentapping, players can play multiple cards of the same suit in one attackround on the respective tap, excluding the turn in which the tap wasplayed. However, when attacking directly, only one card may be used persuit per attack per turn. When attacking a guard a player may usemultiple suited cards to destroy a guard.

Direct attack (“Unguard, Pay Hard”): Attack an opponent by playing a redcard of any suit in front of her. Direct attack damage is equal to thevalue of the red attack guard. Damage is deducted from defender's chipstack and placed in the center pot.

Deflecting a direct attack: A direct attack on a player may be deflectedin part or whole by a defensive black card. If the defending card isgreater in rank than the attacking card, the attack has failed. If theattacking card is greater in rank than the deflecting black guard, thedifference is deducted from the player's chip stack and deposited in thecenter pot.

Guard suit from tap: A player may play a black card in front of him toprotect the respective suit against attack or tap.

Attacking a guard: A player may eliminate a guard by incremental damageor with a red card of equal to greater rank of the guard card. Wheneliminated, the difference between the rank of the red card and theremaining life points of the guard card incur damage on the player

Tapping (“Tap and Jack”): When a player attacks with a red ace and thereis not a defensive guard to block the attack, the attacking player opensa leeching point to his opponent's chips. Each successive red cardplaced on the tapped stack allows the attacker to steal chips from hisopponent. The ace is worth +1 chip when being used to tap an opponent'schips. All successive red cards are equal to their respective rankvalues (see above.)

Deflecting a tap: A defender can play a black ace of the same suit asthe red ace to make the tap fail. This is can be done immediately afterthe tapping attempt only.

Blocking a tap: A defender can play any black card on the top of astacked tap. This black card must be destroyed by red cards of equal togreater rank.

Attacking a tap blocker: Tap blockers can only be destroyed and removedfrom the tap stack when a red card of equal to greater rank attacks.

1. A card deck comprising a plurality of families, each familycomprising a two-dimensional array of cards, wherein the first dimensioncomprises thirteen ranks and the second dimension comprises four suits.2. The card deck of claim 1, wherein the thirteen ranks are 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace.
 3. The card deck of claim 1,wherein the four suits are Star, Planet, Crescent, and Quasar.
 4. Thecard deck of claim 1, wherein the four suits are Club, Diamond, Heart,and Spade.
 5. The card deck of claim 1, wherein the number of familiesis two.
 6. The card deck of claim 5, wherein one family is black and onefamily is white.
 7. The card deck of claim 1, wherein the number offamilies is three.
 8. The card deck of claim 7, wherein one family isblack, one family is white, and one family is red.
 9. The card deck ofclaim 1, further comprising at least one additional card designated as aJoker.
 10. A method of playing poker comprising: providing at least onedeck of cards comprising a plurality of families, wherein each familycomprises a two-dimensional array of cards, wherein the first dimensioncomprises ranks and the second dimension comprises suits; dealing aplurality of cards from said deck of cards to a plurality of players sothat each player has a poker hand; and comparing the poker hands of atleast two players and determining a hierarchy based at least in part onthe families represented by the cards contained in the poker hands ofsaid at least two players.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the stepof dealing comprises giving each player at least five cards.
 12. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the step of dealing comprises giving eachplayer at least seven cards.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein thestep of dealing comprises giving each player two cards and designatingat least three additional cards as community cards.
 14. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the step of dealing comprises giving each player fourcards and designating at least three additional cards as communitycards.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein comparing the poker handscomprises evaluating whether at least three cards out of a five-cardpoker hand are in the same family.
 16. A method of playing 21comprising: providing at least one deck of cards comprising a pluralityof families, wherein each family comprises a two-dimensional array ofcards, wherein the first dimension comprises ranks and the seconddimension comprises suits; dealing a plurality of cards to a playerhand; dealing a plurality of cards to a dealer hand; and comparing thecards of the player hand in each family to the cards of the dealer handin the corresponding family.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein thenumber of families within the deck is three.
 18. The method of claim 16wherein a player playing said player hand is given an option to receiveat least one additional card without knowing the family of saidadditional card until it is dealt.